search Wardrobe Refashion

Google Analytics*

We're headed beach camping this weekend and my daughter needed some pants for the cool evenings. So I made knit stretchy pants with an elastic waist band and a blunt-cut hem. When I finished with them, they seemed boring so I added this to the back of her pant leg:I've never been a fan of cliche slogans on kids' clothing. But unfortunately, this is my daughter's mantra as of late, so it seemed appropriate. The words were done with freezer paper stenciling and the heart is a reverse applique:We tried them out at the park today and they worked great! Functional, cozy, and cute:

Long story short: Husband's shirt -- a very nice one with a nice, pointed collar and long sleeves. Kept the shoulder seam and neckline/ collar intact, re-cut the bodice sides and new, short sleeves, and voila! A shirtdress was born. FYI, I used Simplicity 4118 as a guide for the darts and overall shape. Also, I wore the garment with the full pointed collar and decided after 15 minutes it was too big and heavy, so I picked it out and re-sewed the collar stand so that it now has just a little banded collar.

Just a couple of old t-shirts, fabric paint (the spray kind), button & craft thread, and the stencil that comes with the book. I thought I didn't like hand sewing, but I was wrong. I just don't like mending.

Finally, something to do with all those scraps left over from the t-shirt quilt!

I finished this dress up on Monday night, but didn't take the pictures till yesterday. I made it using McCall's 5624, with a couple of changes to raise the neckline in front and back and also to fully line it. I do have to admit that I bought the fabric recently (though before my pledge started) because it was just screaming out that it fit the pattern I'd just bought perfectly. I'm really excited about the print on this dress, but have a little over a yard left of it (since I used lining fabric instead of that fabric to line the bodice, I accidentally bought too much!). So I would love some suggestions of what to do with that, since it's such a distinctive print!

And here's a closeup of the twisty straps.

Planning on cutting out a bunch of stuff today, since I don't have much in the way of work. Probably most of what you'll see from me in the next few weeks will be new projects rather than refashions, since I'm trying to bust a serious chunk of my fabric stash. But hopefully it'll still be enjoyable! ;)

Also proud of myself-- I did buy some new hiking boots over the weekend. (Trust me, my feet really needed them, because the ones I had were tearing up my feet, and there is no way I would attempt to make shoes that I need to walk for miles with a pack in!) But I did manage to resist looking at the clothes--even the clearance rack--even the eco-friendly fabric stuff-- and I do like the clothes at REI!

ok, so i've been lurking forever because i didnt have any nice shiny pictures to post.but now i do, so here's my 'who am i' intro, and then some eye-candy. ps, sorry bout the long post!I'm Cherry Rockette from Australia, I play roller derby, work in fashion and am a crafter/maker from way back when i was very small. I pledged for 12 months last year, and managed to only buy socks and
undies new, so after a break, i've re-pledged for another 6 months. I
also just got knocked up (well, 4 months now), so it's going to be
interesting dressing myself over the next 6 months! I have a blog that i try to maintain, very badly. Mostly I just like to sew and make things. Most of what I make is refashions, due to my love of vintagey fabrics and ransacking op-shops. and being a scrooge. hey, when you know how much it costs to make some items and the profit margins on them, you get a bit stingy about paying full price. plus i dont usually like what mainstream stores sell, and it's pretty expensive to buy the nice stuff. I'd rather just make it myself.ok, enough about the wierd ranting lady, here's some shiny:

It was quite an easy make, although i
deleted the ugly webbing strap handle (I'm going to make a nappy bag to
put this in, so I don't think it really needs a handle), and I also
deleted the ugly plastic buckle, and used a vintage black shank button
instead, with a loop of elastic to secure it closed.

Next up, the matching nappy bag, and then a black skull bag+mat for the hubby.

I didn't post anything last week because I was gone most of the week helping with grandkids and greeting my brand new grandbaby. Four kids under the age of four translates into NO time for sewing or crafting. But lots of smooches and hugs.

But this week I'm busy trying to finish up the outfits we'll be wearing at Faerieworlds this weekend. I haven't taken photos of everything I made yet, but yesterday was all about wings. I'd made the wire frames the night before and then tried out different ideas on how to cover them, taking into account I had only so much time to finish them in, until I found something I liked.

Here's my first attempt.

It's not what I set out to do originally. I liked my complicated design but it was the wrong thing to start with as there was a learning curve - each set was easier as I learned techniques that worked. But these wings are for a French Faerie outfit and I want it to be sort of whimsical and feminine and a teensy bit exaggerated, so I'm happy with how they turned out. Now that I've had a little more practice, and if I had more time, I think I could do my original idea for these wings - maybe next year. I used tulle, lace, and ribbons I already had in my stash - yah!

Next I covered these wings.

These are for a woodland autumn faerie outfit. I wanted them to be simple and dragonfly shaped. I ended up making them leaf shape instead which worked better for hanging and for the colors in the rest of the outfit. I found this fabric at a big fabric warehouse and it was perfect for these wings, having a leaf vein sort of raised pattern and a beautiful shimmery copper color.

Next came these.

Originally I was simply going to wrap the outer frame of these with a larger stiff wire covered in black feathers, but the feathers were too large to play nicely with the shape. I'd bought an oversized shirt at the thrift shop that was made of a stretchy black tufted fabric, thinking I might cut it down for the top for this outfit but I ended up using a velvet tee instead. So I cut the fabric from the back of this shirt in the bat shape of the wings, slightly oversized, and stretched, pinned, and hand sewed it to the wire frame. At first I didn't know what I was doing but as I went along I figured it out and it went more quickly than I expected. I had to go back and redo the first wing a bit where I'd been learning how to do it.

Then I used this soft feathery boa (a thrift shop find) to trim the top edge and make those dangly tips.

Not wings, but I also made this for my granddaughter.

Storebought wings I found while on vacation. I had to order the red onsie online as it's virtually impossible to find a plain kid's tee without some cartoon character or Disney princess painted on it. First I added the little white roses but then I thought the pom pom trim went better with the polka dot skirt so I added it, didn't bother removing the roses. I figured faeries love extra embellishments. That and I was too tired to bother. And I made the skirt by cutting the tulle into six inch strips twice as long as the length and then just overlapping them around and through the elastic waist. It seems a bit overly floofy but I'm always underestimating how much my granddaughter has grown - I followed the measurements for waist and length that my daughter-in-law gave me, so we'll see. I'm bringing a scissors with me in case I need to trim it up a bit.

o I mentioned the other day that I was making a new duvet cover out of old bedsheets and some fabric I had around. Here it is! I'm quite happy with it actually, I only wish I had enough of the bedsheet I'd used to make the pillow shams from the pattern I used. No worries, I'll find some old white pillowcases and improvise!

I also whipped up a quick skirt out of a top I found at Value Village. There aren't any before pictures, as I just started sewing away. The top was an XL, but I couldn't resist the knit fabric nor the stripes, just screamed Fall to me, and I figured that chopping it off at the bottom of the armhole and creating an elastic waistband would work, and it did.

Going along with the recent pillowcase/sheet theme, I saw this bit of vintage sheet sticking out of my mom's rag bag and grabbed it. It was only about a quarter of the original - not enough to do a whole dress.

Then I was inspired by the Joanne's ad which showed some new quilting fabrics. They were bright blues and greens bounded by dark navy, and they made me think of a stained glass window. So here is the result:

I used New Look 6774, which is a nice pattern because it gives you about 9 different bodice variations. I used more fabrics than they suggested, added the piping, and added the piece to the bottom because it was too short. Now I think I will move on to a quicker project!

My husband is training in the prairies for six months and I went to visit him last weekend. I packed my cutest skirts and dresses only to find that it was cold and rainy in cattle country. I went to Roots and bought some bamboo pants.

To be honest I`m not really sorry because they are the softest freakin` article of clothing known to man and bamboo is somewhat sustainable although I do wish I was using my card on an Anthropologie dress or something instead of jogging pants.

I have been getting some sewing fix-ups and projects in. I finally sewed the facing down on this dress.

It was always flipping up and looking stupid. You can read all the details and see more pics of the dress on my blog.

I`m also trying to take my time (I`m making a muslin and everything!) on this dress from the June Burda World of Fashion:

I`m using a lavender / mauve linen. I have to embiggen the waist and do a full bust adjustment so wish me luck.

In knitting news, hopefully I will have a finished pair of socks to show this evening. Does that count as a fashion item?

My version of the yummy anthro handbag; summer '05. More info and details about why this project went south here. The fabric of the handbag is a vintage 50's barkcloth drape. The lining is a thrifted 100% cotton blouse. The handles a vintage silk tie.